This is a novelistic first-person account of a typical week in the life of a Soviet woman and her efforts to hold down two full-time jobs: one as a scientist in a laboratory, the other as a mother and wife. The general problem is a familiar one in the West, too, but the story is full of intimate details of Soviet daily life. The style is straight-forward and lively -- an excellent text for student reading, since it contains a great deal of very useful, every-day vocabulary. The language of the original has not been simplified, although it has been very slightly abridged. The purpose of the edition is to provide interesting accented, glossed, and annotated reading material for students who have had two or more years of Russian. Notes at the bottom of the page provide information on idioms and difficult passages. The glossary at the end contains all of the words in the text except for those which are commonly used and assumed to be known to the student (including numerals, pronouns, special adjectives, common prepositions, etc.). Accent marks are placed over all syllables which bear stress, including monosyllabic words; thus, the distinction between words such as chto `that' vs. chto`what' is indicated by the accent mark.
"Paperno, Roklina, and Leed have added another excellent classroom aid to an already distinguished series. The editors have reprinted an important short novel as a classroom reader. The format is well suited for student use -- clear print, numbered lines, useful and appropriate footnotes, and a generally well prepared glossary." (SEEJ)
